


And Eventually

by little_manatee



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and nothing but fluff, Gen, M/M, Ring Pop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-11 06:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13518648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_manatee/pseuds/little_manatee
Summary: The first time Kaito proposed, they were both seven years old.Shinichi said, “No.”It seemed to set a trend after that.Or, Kaito proposed to Shinichi with a Ring Pop, again and again. When Kaitou KID started doing the same, all hell broke loose.*Officially on Hiatus* There is some trouble in my family that left me too stressed out to write anything at the moment, I'm sorry.





	1. In Which Kaito Proposed.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [berryuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/berryuu/gifts), [JustCharlieBruh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustCharlieBruh/gifts).



>   * [ 1 ] For shrio and Kikay, to whom made the idea stuck in my head.
>   * [ 2 ] No beta. Not native English speaker. Read at your own risk. Update will be slow, I haven’t been writing anything in four years.
>   * [ 3 ] There are too many unrealistic impossible things in this story, please let it slide for the sake of fun.
> 


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lovely fanart below by [ Evnos ](https://impliedodds.tumblr.com/)

> _“Oyaji, why does he giving the princess a tiny Ring Pop?”_
> 
> _Kuroba Toichi looked up at the television currently screening a handsome gentleman on one knee in front of a beautiful lady asking, ‘Will you marry me?’ as he presenting her a small, but intricate diamond ring._
> 
> _He chuckled at his son’s innocent question, “He wants to live happily ever after with her.”_
> 
> _The little boy watched the scene in the film thoughtfully for a moment, the prince now holding the princess in his embrace, both of them swaying softly with the music._
> 
> _“One day, when I find the one I want to live happily ever after with, I’ll give them a_ _Ring Pop_ _too!” He declared, nodding vigorously in a decisive manner. “But I will give them the bigger one! So we will be happier!”_
> 
> _“In that case,” Toichi intoned, extending his hand in front of his son. In a puff of pink smoke, an apple_ _Ring Pop_ _materialised in his palm and he offered it to the boy. “You should keep at least one with you always, so you can ask them whenever you find them.”_
> 
> _“Okay!”, Kaito responded enthusiastically as he took the candy._
> 
> _And since then, in the little boy magic sleeve, along with endless piles of roses and an assortment of tricks, a_ _Ring Pop_ _lie, ready to be given to that one special person, always._

===

The first time Kaito proposed, they were both seven years old.

##### ***

Kaito didn’t normally have any problems with field trips, on the contrary, he generally adored them, and always did his best to make each outing memorable. (His classmates would all attest to that.)

So the week before, when Aoko passed him the register roll, he signed it without looking at the destination. It didn’t matter, after all, any opportunity to get away from same-old, boring classroom is welcome.

Except, nobody had told him they were going to the aquarium.

And now, he was hiding, crouched down at the corner halfway inside the glass walk-through tunnel, surrounded by those f-f-f-thing, while his class went on without him.

“Don’t be a baby, Kaito! It’s just 100 metres long! You can do it!” He tried to give himself a pep-talk, then said it again in Aoko’s voice. It didn’t quite work.

Just when he mustered enough courage to stand, a herd of Bluefin Tuna darted swiftly over his head and he end up hunched over again.

“Are you alright?” A boy asked, moving into Kaito’s line of vision.

Kaito raised his head up and found himself staring at the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Blushing, he gathered his last scrap of dignity and poker face, looked directly into concerned blue eyes and whispered in trembling voice, “I...m fine.”

The boy wasn’t even a little bit convinced.

“Are you sick? Come on, I’ll take you to the medical room.” He urged, grabbing Kaito’s arm and pulling him up to his feet.

Scalloped hammerhead swooped pass his nose, Kaito yelps, yanking the other boy closer and tried his best to bury his face into the boy’s shoulder, silently screaming.

At the unexpected contact, the boy stiffened slightly but relaxed quickly enough. His hand came up to tentatively pat Kaito’s back.

“Are you afraid of fi...umpf” His words were cut off as Kaito’s hand shot up to shush him.

“Don’t say it!”

Blue eyes looked at him incredulously and Kaito prepared himself for dubious question or mocking laughter, but neither came.

“Alright.” The boy nodded decisively. “Close your eyes.”

“Eh?”, was Kaito’s only reply, as the other swiftly seized his hand and started dashing forward, dragging him along the tunnel.

Kaito struggled for a second, but the grip was warm and comforting, so he closed his eyes and let the boy guided him.

#### +++

The next time Kaito opened his eyes, they were outside, tall trees lining up with tufts of shrubbery around them and the giant glass dome close behind, but no finny-thing anywhere insight.

Kaito relished in the feeling of sunlight on his skin and fresh wind in his hair. Rejuvenated, he turns to the other boy and, with a joyous grin, conjured white rose in front of his face.

“Hi! I’m Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire, nice to meet you!”

The boy regarded the rose a little nonplussed (Kaito thought he heard him murmured, ‘sleeves’), but eventually took them and put them in his jacket pocket.

“Kudo Shinichi. Detective.” Shinichi stated in a much calmer manner, “Do you need to find your classmates?”

“No, it’s fine.” Kaito assured, casually waving his hand. “They will just assume I’m setting up some pranks if they can’t find me. As long as I go back before the bus leave, nobody’s gonna make a fuss.”

Then he paused, scanned his own attire and asked, “How did you know I am on a school trip? I’m not in uniform.”

Shinichi privately thought this is quite irresponsible, however, considering his own situation, he supposed he was in no room to talk.

“Your ticket is orange, which means you came with a group, and today is a school day, so it is unlikely your parents had allowed you to skip and take you here.”

Kaito looked down at his navy blue T-shirt, below the collar, where Shinichi was pointing, orange Sea Life Park ticket sticker stood out like a sore thumb. _Haa._

He looked back up at Shinichi curiously, “How come you are here then? Are you here with your class too?”

“My mother… has some business here…” Shinichi answered reluctantly. “She...ah, is very fond of underwater terrain and wants me to accompany her. But she is caught up in some work, so I... wander around by myself as I wait for her to finish.”

Which was mostly true. Kudo Yukiko had been invited as a special guest by the filming crews, who were currently shooting the continuation arc of a movie she had once played a major role in, at the shooting location close to this aquarium, and decided to bring her son along.

Although the more accurate version would be that Shinichi woke up in the Series 2 Jaguar E-Type, one and a half hour far from home, at the entry of the Sea Life Park as Yukiko jabbed the green sticker pass on his hoodies, told him to ‘Have fun’, and then disappeared.

“Well, that’s alright! You can accompany me instead!” Kaito declared cheerfully, hoping to rise his new friend’s dampening mood.

“To where? This place is full of fi...eeh, marine life?” Shinichi raised his eyebrow skeptically, changing his question mid-word, as Kaito gave him a glare, then sighed softly. “Why did you come here anyway, if it scares you that much?”

“I forgot to read the pamphlet.” Kaito told him miserably.

Shinichi studied Kaito, who was averting his gaze to the floor and pouted sulkily in silence, consideringly for a moment, before fishing the water park map out of his shorts and spread it out on a nearby bench.

“What if they weren’t a um…, the f-thing, but still have fins and tails, are you okay with that?”

Kaito’s indigo eyes perked up at the question, tilting his head to one side, “What are you suggesting?”

“Well, I was thinking the Sea Lion Show.” Shinichi hid his face behind the map, not quite certain his idea would be well-received. “But if you don’t like them either, we can go to the coral museum instead, or maybe the seabirds section. I heard the penguin exhibit is very popular. Or...or...I don’t know. But there are 12 areas in this place, I’m sure we can find something..., Kuroba?”

When Shinichi stopped himself from babbling and peeked out above the map in his hands, Kaito was staring at him, his eyes glittering like stars and his mouth beaming brighter than the sun.

Shinichi felt his cheeks burn as Kaito tackled him to the ground with a roar of “Yes!”

#### +++

A few hours later, they were sitting in a booth of an ice cream parlour. Shinichi savoured his cup of affogato (Shinichi confessed quietly that he actually wasn’t allowed to drink coffee, but Kaito promised he won’t tell anyone.), while Kaito dug into his triple chocolate a la mode piggishly.

Atop of his head, Shinichi wore a white sailor caps, an award for correctly naming the seven species of sea lions. A tally, turquoise silk ribbon, the same shade as his jacket, was tied around the base which bore the name of the aquarium embroidered in gold.

The show staffs were all very impressed with his wide array of knowledge, and they clapped loudly as the closest sea lion ambling forward, and giving Shinichi a wet kiss on the cheek among the deafening cheer of the crowd.

Shinichi went beat red. Kaito took pictures.

They also dropped by the Armor Quarter, which housed animals with shells.

Kaito was fascinated by the varieties of colours and shapes of the vivacious coral and seashells living between them. Shinichi was much more interested in the bizarre way the lobsters and shrimps moves. (He was especially fond of those tiny hermit crabs.) But both of them agreed that the Blue-ringed octopus were the coolest animal ever.

The intendants taught them the difference between turtle and tortoise, as they eyed the giant, ancient turtle gobbled down watermelon given by the zoo staff, and then showed them the video of baby tortoise hatching. They watched with bated breath, Shinichi whispered encouragement and Kaito shouted in triumphant as the last one reached the sea.

During their avians zone visit, one of the small puffin, startled by a baby sudden cry, flung itself out of its caretaker’s hold. Kaito, always fast on his feet and accustomed to dealing with birds, gently caught the little nestling in his arms and expertly soothed it down. In no time at all, the puffin was snuggling into his embrace, cooing.

In apology and gratitude, the caretaker took them on a private tour backstage. They offered to let the two helped them feeding a herd of Humboldt penguin. Shinichi agreed. Kaito refused. (They eat the finny-thing, eww.)

He did, however, help feeding the baby hatchlings (They eat nutrient solution from slingshots.), which are much cuter than the full-grown ones, with soft, fluffy grey feathers on their chest and light yellow in their bellies.

Later, before they left, Shinichi disappeared into the souvenir shop and appeared again with a big baby king penguin plush.

“Here.” He shoved them into Kaito’s hands, “They are your favourite, right?”

It had been one of the most enjoyable trips in Kaito’s life.

Polishing off the last sprinkle on his plate, Kaito hugged the stuffed penguin in his lap tightly, nuzzling his chin into its soft fur, subtly peering up at his companion.

“Shinichi?” He called, smiling as Shinichi met his eyes, head tilting in query. “Thank you.”

Shinichi flushed pink, catching the fondness in Kaito's voice, as he replied honestly, “I have a lot of fun too.”, and hoped it conveyed everything he felt.

#### +++

“Kaito?”

“Yes, Shin-chan?”

The early evening was sidling slowly over the water park, ebbing the heat of the day to a comforting warmth. Kaito and Shinichi sauntered lazily along the sidewalk towards the entrance. Their shadows were now twice as long as themselves, and Kaito kept pausing to make shadow puppetry, wanting to prolong their time together.

“There is… another place I want to show you.” Shinichi began, hesitation in his voice.

“Of course, we...” Kaito trailed away, as Shinichi quickly elaborated.

“But we have to go through the underwater dome.”

Abruptly stopped, he spun around to look at Shinichi.

Shinichi seemed a little bashful, his hands twisting around the laces of his hoodies. But while his body radiated nervousness in waves, the moment Kaito twirled back, he straightened and met his eyes squarely.

“Will you come with me?” Shinichi asked, steady and sincere.

Kaito studied the hand Shinichi extended to him.

Throughout the day, Shinichi hadn’t once made fun of his ichthyophobia. He didn’t laugh or call them ridiculous or use them against Kaito. He verified with Kaito first before they headed anywhere, and guided him by the hand when they had to go through the Ocean zone.

Right now, Shinichi didn’t look anxious, more… hopeful? His wonderful blue eyes bored into Kaito’s indigo encouragingly, not a trace deceit or derision.

Kaito inhaled, “Alright.”, smiled, and took his hand.

#### +++

The tanks in the dome Shinichi brought him to is enormous but empty.

Darkness shrouded the room and no one else was there, only the dim light from the pathway allowed Kaito to see that all three entire wall was covered with a single sheet of glass each. It was sparsely decorated, filled to the brim with water and large enough to hold a shark, but there was nothing in it.

Kaito was about to voice his confusion, but Shinichi just squeezed his hand and strode forward.

Suddenly something moved in the viridian shadows and Kaito gasped with a mixture of horror and wonderment as the biggest jellyfish he had ever seen drifts into the view. Its whole body glowed, shining and shimmering in mess of white and mauve.

“Portuguese man o' war.” Shinichi turned back to tell him, blue eyes twinkling in the pale teal light. “There are other kinds too, in the other walls.”

Kaito stared, captivated, as a myriad of jellyfish emerged, one by one, various in sizes and sorts, all pulsating, blasting brilliant cerulean flame out of the serene darkness, like stars blooming at the birth of midnight sky.

And at the centre Shinichi stood, beautiful and magnificent in the ambient blue light, azure eyes sparkling, looking directly and grinning affectionately at Kaito. “Beautiful, right?”

_‘You are’_ Kaito thought and, at that moment, made a decision. He was going to live happily ever after with Shinichi. Forever.

Gripping the box of Ring Pop in the secret sleeves pocket, Kaito took a deep breath and surged across the room, coming to a halt in front of Shinichi. He knelt down on one knee and presented the ring.

“Shinichi, will you marry me?”

For a moment Shinichi looked bewilderingly at Kaito, then shifted his gaze to the blue-raspberry Ring Pop offered.

“No” He said, smiling bemusedly.

_‘Well,’_ thought Kaito, _‘that’s alright.’_

He had never been one to easily give up anyway.

#### +++

  


Lovely fanart by [ Evnos ](https://impliedodds.tumblr.com/post/170415886656/little-manatee-s-fic-is-very-cute-please-read-to)

#### +++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is coming slowly. I hope I can update soon.
> 
> Leave a Kudo or comment, if you prefer. Thank you for reading.


	2. In Which Kaito Proposed (Again).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is full of self-indulgent fluffy nonsensical scenes that probably boring to read but so much fun to write, I’m sorry. (〃∀〃)ゞ
> 
> Cute fanarts below by [ Airu ](https://airu27.tumblr.com/)

The second, third and fourth time Kaito proposed, it happened in a span of two nights.

##### ***

Kuroba Kaito sighed, slouching down on his desk and staring listlessly out of his elementary classroom window.

He had been having a very bad day, no, a very bad week. He hadn’t seen or heard from Shinichi for six days, and won’t be seeing him for another week. It was unbearable.

( ( In the background, a boy yelped and fell on his butt as the chair he had been sitting on all day hastily pulling itself out from under him. 

Puzzled, he got up and reached for the chair, — only for it to pulled away _by itself_.

Then, all the chairs in the class, one by one, began moving on its own, wriggling out from under its seaters and dancing out of their reach. The one closest to the door spun out along the hallway with another student on its tail, bystanders goggling after him. ) )

As things turned out, his and Shinichi’s parents supposedly knew one another _‘since forever’_ , according to their mothers, even though their fathers greeted each other like strangers the first time they met.

And after that fateful day at the aquarium, both of them had routinely met up on a playdate every weekends, sometimes in Beika, but more in Ekoda.

Every Saturday morning, bright and early, the two boys could be found trudging sedately along the pathway toward the park in front of Ekoda Clock Tower, red and yellow sneakers crunching on the clusters of fallen leafs littering the stone steps at the side of the street.

Someday, if they were particularly peckish, they would swing by the ‘Mad Batter’, a bakery located a few blocks before the park’s entrance, between an antique shop that never seemed to open and a bookshop that never seemed to close.

The woman who owned the place was old with frail bones and feeble limbs, yet her eyes are sharp and her gait graceful. She never smiled but made cakes fit for royalty.

Kaito especially adored her chocolate soufflé, and never fail to order a piece, and even Shinichi indulged himself in a slice of her lemon meringue or French apple pie now and again.

Kaito let out another sighed, feeling a wistful longing for another taste of rich, smooth, spongy texture, dribbled in bitter and sweet layers of mouth-watering chocolate.

A perfect combination made even better when sharing with the right companion.

( ( A girl clearing the blackboard gasped as a chalk drawing of cupcake popped up where she had just run her eraser by, but when she slid her hand back to erase it, another drawing of egg tart appeared in its place.

Everywhere the eraser skated pass, a series of desserts surfaced, trailing after it. Soon, the whole board was covered in chalk drawings of cakes, waffles, brownies, and on and on. 

...And also not any cleaner than when she started. ) ) 

Sometimes they also bought a few batches of cookies (toffee crunch for Kaito and ginger snaps for Shinichi), to be shared while they took turns pushing each other on the tire swing under the tallest tree at the center of the park.

If the swing was already occupied, they would climb up the geodesic dome or monkey bars, watching the clouds sailing lazily in the sky and telling each other what they saw. Shinichi was not very good at this, but Kaito could forge a whole fairy tail in only ten minutes.

On days where Kaito felt exceptionally energetic, one of them would whirl the merry-go-round, and the other would jump on the moving disk, howling into the wind blowing against their face as the world blurred into kaleidoscope of colors.

All the same, whenever Shinichi’s introvert nature reared its head, they would find solace in the shadow shade under the spreading canopies, sitting quietly side by side, as Shinichi immersed himself in a book while Kaito practised his magic or took a nap on his lap.

Kaito sighed again, already missing his most favorite person.

( ( A puff of smoke sprung up around a teacher who just walked in, when it dissipate her hair was all curled up, Star Wars Princess Leia style, as she heaved a sigh and facepalmed.

From there, anyone who went through the classroom door got a little spiced up on their image, ranging from rainbow color hair, glow-in-the-dark tattoo, and in Nakamori Aoko case, a full Sailor Moon attire, completed with odango hairstyle and a magical brooch.

Her livid scream was so loud it can be heard from down the street. ) )

More often than not, Kaito’s cavalry of doves would accompany them. The most notable ones were Kukuri and Kokoro.

Kukuri was Kaito’s youngest bird and he had raised her since the day her pink beak piped an air hole in the eggshell. 

There was a wisp of olive-green feather at the edge of her wingtips, some kind of birthmark, which made her too distinguishable for shows, but Kaito could not care less.

She was also as impatient as her master and regularly took off far ahead of them, before rounding back, chirping and herding for them to hurry along.

Kokoro, on the other hand, was passed down to Kaito from Toichi. He was an old, traditional white dove and much calmer than both Kukuri and Kaito (Much lazier, insisted Kaito). 

Usually, he hitched a ride on Shinichi’s head, perching like a crown and preening Shinichi’s hair. Shinichi was very fond of him.

Kaito smiled dreamily, thinking of his beloved Shinichi and his beloved doves.

( ( A squawk croaking inside Momoi Keiko’s backpack, she cautiously lift the top, then ducked down in surprise, as a white dove came rushing out of her bag. It circled around twice, before landing on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.

Another squawk and another dove soared above the pandemonium in the class, and another and another, until the whole room was swarm with white feather and birds tweeting. ) )

Last Saturday, however, two days after having a filling and being ban from any and all sweets, Kaito, who literally had been salivating at anything with a pinch of sugar, hurtling down the sidewalk en route to ‘Mad Batter’, Shinichi in tow, — only to be greeted by a close down sign at the door.

Peering inside the glass window, they saw that all the lights are off, all the dining furnitures being stacked up on one side and heaps of boxes and crates on the other.

The teenager minding the neighbor bookstore told them that the old lady arthritic joints had been getting worse the past few month, so she decided to move in with her grandson, who ran a horse farm in Hokkaido, and put the place on sale. She would be leaving tomorrow and the shop will be cleaned out by the end of the week.

Kaito spent the whole day moping. Any attempt to cheer him up, even by Shinichi, was futile.

To add insult to injuries, Shinichi told him he would not be coming next weekend.

_“But why?” Kaito asked huffily._

_“Tou-san and Kaa-san have some business to do in Singapore. Our flight is on Saturday morning and we won’t be back ‘till Monday evening.”_

_After a paused, Shinichi continued, “Normally, they didn’t mind leaving me alone at the house for two or three days, but recently they’ve become a bit... clingy for some reason. I don’t know why.”_

_Kaito didn’t tell Shinichi, but he had an inkling it might have something to do with the ‘talk’ his parents had with them at their first family get together._

_Kaito noticed his mother expression had become a bit stony after he told them how exactly Shinichi ended up alone at the aquariums, although his father face didn’t change at all._

_“It just this week, Kaito.” Shinichi added, misunderstood Kaito’s silence for sullen. He shifted a bit closer and gave him a nudge. “I’ll be back in no time.”_

_Kaito, seeing the opportunity to get more pampering, pretended to pout at him._

Kaito sighed again.

A mop slammed pass his ear, inches from his face, startling him out of his thought, Kaito’s eyes slowly trailed over the helve and met with its handler.

Nakamori Aoko stood, three feet two inches tall, in a white and blue sailor fuku uniform, reddish‑pink gloves and boots, and crescent‑moon earrings, her bearing regal like a goddess ready to battle, with fire burning in her eyes and tail-hair flying in the breeze.

“What.” She snarled, emphasizing each syllable with a jab, one hand gestured at the rest of the room, “Exactly. Is. Your. Problem!?”

Kaito just blinked, nonplussed at the chaos his class had pledged into while he wasn’t looking.

“Bakaito! Answer me!”

Kaito ignored her and, with a clap, switched the room fluorescent lights with gradually rotating disco balls.

“ **K A I T O !** ”

A loud snap and melodious voice poured out of the speakers singing, _‘You've got the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen. You've got me almost melt away, as we lay there, under a blue sky...’_

“Oh. My. God.” Aoko exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling and praying for patients.

Another snap and the lyrics changed to, _‘And I miss you like crazy, I miss you like crazy, Ever since you went away, every hour of every day...’_

“This is about Shinichi-kun Singapore trip again, isn’t it?”, Aoko asked resignedly, fingers massaging her temper. She had yet to meet Kaito’s _‘Shin-chan’_ in person, but it felt like she already knew everything seeing as Kaito never shut up about him. 

And he had been complaining nonstop about Shinichi’s absence since Sunday. Aoko was frankly ready to stuff him in a bag and send it to Beika.

Kaito snapped his finger again, and the sequel song was _‘When You're Gone’_ by Avril Lavigne.

“He isn’t even dead!” Aoko yelled, exasperated. “Just ask him to stay at your place instead! You wouldn’t leave him alone for a second anyway.”

Just like that, the music stopped. 

Kaito turned to stare at her like she had given him the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

“Aoko, you are a genius!” He declared, then leapt out the window.

“Wait! Kaito!” She scrambled to the sill bellowing after him, as their classroom descended into another maelstrom. “ **COME FIX THIS FIRST!!!** ”

#### +++

“What’s wrong, Shin-chan?” Kaito asked gently, a bit tentatively, when he returned from brushing his teeth and found Shinichi fidgeting nervously with his hand on the sofa in the Kurobas living room, waiting for him.

The previous day, immediately after the conversation with Aoko, Kaito suggested the idea to his parents, and, with some wheedling, they agreed on the term that he let Shinichi decided whether he wanted to go on the trip or came to a sleepover.

The Kudo couples, on the other hand, gave the green light before Shinichi even said yes himself.

Thus, earlier that morning, Shinichi was dropped off at the Kurobas house with a full luggage and quick kisses on the cheeks. Kaito greeted him readily at the door and they had a leisurely breakfast of cereal, orange juice and a slice of toast together. 

After, they spent their day at the park, much like their usual playdates, playing their own version of cops and robbers. 

Shinichi, of course, took the detective role, while Kaito, well, took the rest. He kept switching places and changing voices, asking questions as a cop, then answering himself in the victim’s voice, directing the whole story, as Shinichi tried to figure out which of Kaito’s persona was the real culprit.

Both of them enjoyed the game immensely, a battle of wits between Kaito’s imagination and Shinichi’s rationality.

(Secretly Shinichi was always a little astonished and very much pleased with Kaito’s enthusiasm to play pretend crime scene with him. 

Nobody had ever taken Shinichi’s detective obsession in stride quite like Kaito did. It made him feel warm all over and made it a little easier to be himself around Kaito.)

By the time dinner rolled around, both of them were drenched in sweat and exceedingly famished. They raced each other all the way back to the house, and it wasn’t until then that Shinichi began to act a little odd.

At the start of the meal, he was obviously nervous, but loosen up quickly, as all the Kurobas were experts in putting people at ease. Before long, he was chatting merrily with Chikage, watching Toichi and Kaito trying to pull one trick over each other.

Even so, as the daylight withdrawing themselves into the night more and more, so it seemed, did Shinichi. He was silent the whole time they washed the dishes, and was jittery when they finish, tottering around after Kaito and repeatedly stealing expected glances.

Kaito hustled him into the shower, hoping a long scrubbing and soaking under the stream would soothe his nerves. 

However, when he returned from having a shower himself and Shinichi still radiating discomfort, he resolved to ask.

Shinichi shuffled a bit at the question, opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it.

Slowly he looked up at Kaito and, with a small, bashful smile, said hesitantly, “I… I had never had a sleepover before.”, confessed Shinichi, his cheeks tinted pink. “I’m not sure... what I am supposed to do in one.”

Kaito, dumbstruck by Shinichi’s shy expression and the surprising answer, forgot how to speak.

“I, ah, asked Ran, ah, Mouri-san, but she told me, she and Suzuki usually set up a mini spa, braiding each other hair and gossiping.” He elucidated with a complicated expression, gesturing hopelessly. “But...um, I don’t think you want to do those, so…um.” 

In a swift, but tender move, Kaito took hold of his hand, pulling him close and leaning his forehead against Shinichi’s, smiling bright and warm, and slightly relief. His indigo eyes shined with amusement and adoration.

“Silly, Shin-chan!” He singsonged affectionately. “There isn’t any rule in a sleepover! We can do whatever we want! All it needs to be is fun!”

Very cute fanart by [ Airu ](https://airu27.tumblr.com/)

Shinichi, blushing red at their close proximity, smiled back earnestly.

“We could even paint each other nails if you want! Although I don’t think either of our hair was long enough for a braid.”, teased Kaito, tugging a strand of his hair, grinning.

“Although…,” Kaito drawled after a pause, stepping back, nodding to himself theatrically. “I suppose we should do at least one sleepover tradition.”, and here his expression turned absolutely mischievous.

“What...umpf” A pillow smacked into Shinichi’s face, cutting off his sentence.

“Pillow fight!” Kaito declared joyously, scrambled up the couch, and hurled another pillow at Shinichi’s head.

Shinichi staggered, dazed by the unexpected blow, but recovered fast. He grabbed the nearest pillow, aimed and made a sharp throw toward Kaito, who was sprinting up the stairs.

“Get back here!” Shinichi shouted, now beaming impossibly wide, running after him.

Kaito stood on the top step, juggling three pillows and cackling as a furry pillow whizzed pass his ears. He magicked another one out from a puff of pink smoke and tossed it down on Shinichi.

Instinctively, Shinichi received the pillow with his chest and kicked. 

The pillow shot straight into Kaito’s nose with an “Umpf!”, a few feathers splashing in the air and more pillows spilling on the floor.

Their eyes met for a second, then Kaito dashed off as Shinichi smirked, dribbling the pillow like a soccer ball and shot it after him. 

They chased each other into the bedroom, and with a playful roar, Shinichi tackled Kaito down on the bed. 

Kaito somersault backwards to escape and sprung up on the other side. He popped out pillows after pillows and whacked them on Shinichi, howling vigorously. 

Shinichi shielded his head and laughed as the pillows bounced off, all the while blindly fumbling the sheets for his own ammunition.

They tumbled and rolled off the bed together, then got up and continued to pelt pillows at each other. 

Feathers flew every which way and so does laughter. Their happiness and jubilation was almost palpable in the air.

Out of the blue, Kaito’s doves, attracted by the commotion, joined in.

They swooped up pillows from the ground and dropped them like squashy bombs on the two giggling children. Soon, the pillows were all pile up in a heap with the kids clambering up on top, still thumping each other jestingly.

“Traitors!” Kaito hollered up at them indignantly with an impish grin.

Shinichi, seizing his chance, toppling over and straddled him. “Do you surrender?”, he demanded, twinkling, right hand holding another pillow menacingly.

“Never!” Kaito wheezed, sticking out his tongue, sprawling, spreading on the piles of pillows.

The two stared at each other for a moment, then busted out laughing again.

And even breathless, covered with pillow down and with an aching stomach from laughing so hard, Kaito had never been happier in his life.

He looked up at Shinichi in snowflakes pyjamas, hovering above him, face glowing and cheeks flushing, breathing hard but smirking in glee, nervousness nowhere to be found, blue eyes warm and bright and fond, one hand still clutching a pillow.

In the background, white doves soaring, ascending amidst flurrying feathers everywhere, flaring with the breeze, weaving in the wind, swirling together, and under the soft bedroom light, it almost seemed like a pair of wings fluttering behind him.

‘ _Like an angel._ ’, thought Kaito. ‘ _My angel._ ’

Smiling tenderly, irrepressibly and, still on his back, Kaito hold out both hands in front of Shinichi, placing together like a prayer.

“Shinichi,” He slowly opened his palms, revealing a cherry ring pop, and presented them like an offering. “Will you marry me?”

Shinichi blinked, lifted the pillow and smacked Kaito’s face.

#### +++

“Shin-chan! Shin-chan! Wake up! Oyaji is leaving early today, we’ve to go bye-bye him!” 

Sunday, at 6 am, bright and early, Kaito’s voice echoed from his bedroom upstairs throughout the house.

Following was a sound of bed squeaking, a barely audible rustling, a swoosh of heavy fabrics, something thumping on the ground, and a muffled groan.

In the living room, Kuroba Toichi, showered, shaved and ready to start the day, stood still in his immaculate black suit as his lovely wife, Chikage, tied his tie and smoothed down his hair.

At the series of noises, the couple met gazes for a moment, then smiled at each other.

A few minutes later, Kaito, in his clover-pattern pyjamas, came crashing down the stairs, one hand hugging a penguin plushie, another dragging half-awake Kudo Shinichi behind.

“Ohayō, Kaa-san! Oyaji!” Their son chirped happily, while Shinichi simply waved groggily and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles.

“Good morning, Kaito. Shinichi.” Toichi greeted back fondly, bending down to level with the boys. “I’m hosting a show at Haido city today but will be back this evening. Be good for your mother, okay?”

“Hai!”, agreed Kaito, as Shinichi nodded sleepily. He wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and pecked him on the cheek. “Have a safe trip and good luck, Oyaji!”

Toichi pecked him back affectionately, ruffling Kaito’s already tousled hair. He was about to get up when Shinichi, too, reached up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“Safe n’ lucky, To’chi-sensei…” He murmured with half-lidded eyes, struggling to stay on his feet.

Kaito sniggered into his hands while Chikage stifled a laugh. Toichi hardly faltered and simply kiss him back.

“Itte kimasu.”, said Toichi, straightened, moved forward to kiss his wife and left on the general chorus of “Itte rashai.”

Half-way back to the bedroom, Shinichi was more or less draped over Kaito, with his chin resting on Kaito’s shoulder, already nodding off, so Kaito threw them both on the living room sofa and hauled a blanket over them instead. 

He sat cross-legged, with his penguin on one side and his Shinichi on another. Shinichi scooted closer, curled up, put his head on Kaito’s lap and closed his eyes.

Just before Kaito dozed off himself, the sound of fluttering wings hummed in the air. Then, Kukuri landed on Kaito’s head as Kokoro nudged himself behind Shinichi’s arm.

In a little while, all of them were asleep.

#### +++

Some hours later, after the two children waking up properly and taking care of their morning routine, Chikage served them a modest breakfast of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and grilled tomatoes while inquiring if they had any plan for the day.

Kaito was going to reply, ‘Nothing in particular’, when Shinichi put forward a rather intriguing suggestion.

“Baking?”, repeated Kaito. “You know how to bake, Shin-chan?”

“No, I don’t.”, replied Shinichi, fishing a notebook from his backpack. “But I bring a recipe book with me, here.”

The recipe book Shinichi handed him was old and worn, with a loose spine and yellowed pages. Within its pages are dessert recipes, each name was wrote in tidy, cursive handwriting with the picture of finish product clipped and difficulty marked in colored pencil stars. Little tips and tricks were throw-in between lines, jotted down with tiny hard-to-read scribbled.

And although the photos were blurry and amateurly taken, Kaito recognized them instantly.

“Shin-chan, isn’t that…?”

“You remember them, huh?” Shinichi smirked, put his hands in his pockets and adjusted his stance, as he always did when preparing to give a speech. (And one day, Kaito would teach him how to fake confident without looking like a jerk, but today is not that day.) 

“Last week, on my way home, I took a detour to the B&B where the owner of the ‘Mad Batter’ was staying, and ask if she would mind sharing a few recipes with me. She gave me this book.”

(To be more precise, she told him to ‘Do your best and make that boy of your happy!’, but he wasn’t going to tell Kaito that.)

“I plan to ask my mother to make them for us when she had time. But then you invited me to a sleepover and I thought we might try to make them together ourselves. And it is something we can do with your mother too.” 

Shinichi said all of it in one breath, like he had been recounting it in his head for a while, then added hastily, looking to Chikage for verification. “Only if you are willing and available, of course, Chikage-neesan.”

(Chikage never asked him to called her neesan, but since Yukiko insisted to be called that, Shinichi thought it was only fair. He also called Toichi ‘-sensei’ like his mother. 

And recently change ‘Ran’ to ‘Mouri-san’, because it was more mature or something. Kaito didn’t understand, he was just happy that he was still ‘Kaito’.)

“I would love to, Shinichi-kun.”, affirmed Chikage, smiling brilliantly with bright, sparkling eyes.

Kaito hid his own smile, skimming through the cookbook. A familiar handwriting on one page caught his eyes, making him pause. 

“Shin-chan, why did you write _‘Flat beaker and cake pan are not interchangeable!’_ here?”

“I, ah, might have try to make that myself, but, um, couldn’t find a cake pan, so I borrowed a flat beaker from Agasa-hakase,” Shinichi blushed, stammering, “And it… didn’t turn out quite right?”

“Flat beaker? Really, Shin-chan!” Kaito chuckled as Shinichi scowled at him. “Why the soufflé though? Four stars is like super hard, isn’t it? And you don’t even like sweets.”

“Barou! Do you even have to ask?” Shinichi huffed, his red cheeks puffing out a little. “It’s because you like them, of course.”

If Kaito’s heart could get any bigger, it was going to burst.

#### +++

Kaito wanted to jump straight into making chocolate soufflé, but Chikage firmly vetoed the idea. She told them they should start with the basics and work up from there.

Thus, sugar cookie was their first challenge.

As she was preparing the kitchen, she handed them each a child-sized, white chef uniform, consisted of toque blanche (traditional hat), double-breasted jacket, and color-matching neckerchief and knee-length apron, red for Shinichi and yellow for Kaito.

When they changed and slid back to the kitchen, the table was full of raw ingredients, flour, butter, sugar, milk, and cooking equipments, measuring jugs, scales, spatulas and more.

(Shinichi wonder where did Chikage get all of this so quickly and why did she had the costumes handy, but by this point, he was already half-convinced the Kurobas were actually magical.)

She also had them read the recipe aloud and walked them through measurement units, before allowing them to begin.

First, they had to make the dough, which started, according to Chikage, like any and all other kinds of cookies, with creaming together the butter and sugar until smooth. 

Kaito insisted to mix it by hand and tried for ten minutes before gave in and turned on the mixer. 

Shinichi measured each ingredient accurately to a tee, but they still got flour flying everywhere when they poured it down the mixing bowl in one go.

“I think we should make another one.” Shinichi suggested as they chilled the first dough in the freezer. “Just in case.”

“Two.” Kaito added. “Two might be safer.”

Just as the new doughs all mixed in, the first one was ready. Chikage rolled them over the flour covered counter and let her boys molded it into shapes.

Shinichi used the pre-made cookies cutters, cutting them out into stars, flowers, butterflies and many other. Kaito prefered to use the pastry cutter and make his own designs.

“Here, Kaito, this one looks like a magician top hat.”

“Thanks, Shin-chan. I’ll cut one into a deerstalker for you!”

Adorable fanart by [ Airu ](https://airu27.tumblr.com/)

Next, after putting the batch in the oven and left them to cool, they created the icing by combining the egg white, powder sugar and lemon juice.

“No, Kaito! You will not put hair dry in it! Use the food coloring!”

“But Kaa-san! There aren’t any neon green!”

The first batch turned out a bit wobbly as the cookies expand during baking, but the color was consistent and no burning.

“It doesn’t look like a bird.” Shinichi said, crestfallen.

“It’s okay, Shinichi-kun. That’s why we had icing!”

Kaito had the most fun with the frosting, painting each of his cookies with various colors and piping tips, drawing pictures and patterns all over it.

Shinichi, on the other hand, mostly just glued other candies or sprinkles on his cookies since his creative artistry was nonexistent.

“Is this Kukuri?”, asked Kaito, pointing at a bird-shaped cookie with white icing background, two red M&M for eyes, and three green jellies on the wingtips.

“Yeah.”

“Aww, Shin-chan, this is so cute!”

It was still a few hours before dinner after they finished up the last batch, so Chikage gave in and let them ‘help’ her make the soufflé.

Soufflé recipe was particularly finicky with more steps and more ingredients, and also composed in so many different creamy and velvety components, not only flour and butter, but also hot milk, melted dark chocolate, egg yolks and heavy cream.

“Kaito, hands off the chocolate! Shinichi-kun, keep the egg whites, we need them for meringue.”

By the time they had six ramekins of somewhat ‘puffy and crusty on top but jiggly in the center’ chocolate soufflés, and three batches of ‘every colors on the rainbow’ sugar cookies at the table, there was powder sugar and egg white on every surface of the kitchen. Little crumbs of dough tucked away and little floury handprints everywhere.

Chikage’s dark brown hair is peppered with white, and a great deal of flour trailed up from her wrist to her elbows. Her arms ached from hours of whisking, but her eyes were crinkling.

Shinichi, too, was coated in random white spots, baking powder dusting his hair, smelling like milk and vanilla, with a smidge of meringue on his cheek, just beside his dimpling lips.

Kaito, himself, was grinning, covered from head-to-toe in colorful icings, his hands, sticky with syrups and sweats, clapping high in the air. His chef hat lopsided and rumpled.

They were, simply, a mess, but all of them were beaming and laughing, proud and pleased and happy.

And Kaito was never ever more sure that he wanted Shinichi to be a part of his life. Always.

“Shinichi,” And this time it was so easy, so natural to bent down on one knee, grabbed a pot of soufflés, placed a Lemonade ring pop on top and asked, “Will you marry me?”

Shinichi raised an eyebrow dubiously, “No.”, but he was smiling, gentle and warm and fond and radiant.

Kaito pretended to pout while subtly plunged his hands into the bowl of leftover whip cream and then, swiftly, smeared them on Shinichi’s face.

Shinichi yelped and dipped his fingers in melt chocolate sauce, splotched it at Kaito. In retaliation, Kaito caught his hand and tried to lick it off.

Shinichi, face flaming, swatted him away, yelling, as Kaito, face glowing, dodged, snickering. 

A camera sound interrupted them, and they turned to see Chikage carelessly flinged her phone up and down, grinning at them both.

The two children met gaze and then hurdled after her as she leapt away, giggling, waving her phone mockingly back.

This is how Toichi found them when he came into the house. 

The smell of baked cookies and cakes wafted through the rooms and peal after peal of laughter rang through the hall. 

His wife danced pass him holding her phone high above her head as his son and (hopefully) son-in-law chasing her, bouncing up and down, trying to snatch the phone from her grasp.

All of them dirty, covered in flour, smeared with creams and streaked in chocolate, but cheering and laughing and beautiful.

Toichi smiled and joined them.

#### +++

The next morning Kaito woke up to find himself lying on something warm and soft, surrounded by the scents of soap and lavender. 

Shinichi was still asleep, curled on his right side facing him, close enough that Kaito could feel his breath on his cheek. He looked content and peaceful, breathing deeply, mouth open and shoulder slack.

Kaito watched, and thought back on the past two days, about Saturday in the park, about Shinichi sitting on a huge tree branch as Kaito climbed up beside him, showing him a large beetle and a tiny ladybird. 

He thought about their pillow fight that melted away all of Shinichi’s discomfort and reservation, as he handled the pillows like a soccer ball and aimed them at Kaito, smirking at him, juvenile and boyish.

He thought about yesterday morning, about Shinichi bleary-eyed and dopey, stumbling after him to give his father goodbye kisses, and the morning nap that followed.

He thought about his mother wide smile and rosy cheeks, when Shinichi asked her to bake with them, about all the fun and joy of making sugar cookies and chocolate soufflés and eating them and sharing them afterwards.

He thought about the four of them, his parents, Shinichi and Kaito, huddled together in the living room watching Jurassic Park last night, talking and joking, spending time together.

And he thought he could live like this forever.

And without thinking at all, his hand reached out in front of Shinichi. One snap of fingers, and a puff of pink smoke, he was holding a ring pop, words slipping out of his mouth effortlessly.

Shinichi shifted and snuggled into the pillow, before opened his eyes and found a ring pop not three inches from his face, hearing the tail end of now a familiar question from that familiar voice.

“...you marry me?”

Shinichi blinked to focus. The ring pop was red and smell like strawberry.

He groaned, glared at Kaito, croaked out a “No.”, rolled over and continued to sleep.

(Honestly, Kaito really didn’t intend to blurt it out like that, but he meant every word, even if Shinichi seemed to believe otherwise.)

Kaito chuckled as he headed to the shower. He would let Shinichi sleep a little while longer, although not too long or both of them will be late for school.

(Unbeknownst to him, Shinichi knows very well that Kaito wasn’t kidding. He was bewildered that first time Kaito asked, but by now he knows Kaito well enough to know it was all genuine and sincere.

Which is why Shinichi will also give Kaito a sincere ‘No’ too. 

Because he likes Kaito. Kaito is his favorite person in the world and he knows Kaito felt the same about him, but they are not there yet, wherever those ring pops will lead them.

So, for now, Shinichi will continue to give him a sincere ‘No’. And hopes, with all his heart, that one day, when the time is right and they are ready, he can give Kaito a sincere ‘Yes’, and really mean it. Forever.)

#### +++

“We should do this again!” Kaito said while he and Shinichi were waiting for Toichi to back the car out of the garage. (Shinichi told them he could take the train, but they insisted to give him a ride.)

“Yeah, maybe next time you can stay at my place.”

“Sure! We’ll make the biggest blanket fort in the Kudo library!” When Shinichi only looked confused, Kaito continued, winking, “No worries, Shin-chan! I’ll show you how to build blanket forts next time we have a sleepover!” 

Shinichi smiled shyly, gaily and walked over to give him a hug goodbye. The two children embraced tightly for a moment.

Just as Shinichi stepped back and was about to turn around, Kaito grabbed his hand and touched his lips to Shinichi’s ring finger.

“I’m not going to give up, you realize?” Kaito said. His tone was teasing, in contrast to the intensity in his eyes.

Shinichi felt his face burn, but returned Kaito’s gaze steadily, blue eyes beguiling and earnest, as he playfully replied, “Bring it on, dear.”

#### +++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire first scene is so unnecessary and cover one-third of the chapter, but I really want to write the pranks. I hope you enjoy it even if only a little. |´∀｀●)
> 
> Anyway, last chapter theme is ‘falling in love’ so it was full of surprises and adventures, this one is supposed to be about ‘familiarity and family’, so the proposals are more playful and comfortable.  
> I don’t know if I’ve done it right. I hope it wasn’t too boring.
> 
>  **Lyrics in above from**  
>  Betty Who - I Love You Always Forever  
> Natalie Cole - Miss You Like Crazy
> 
> Leave a Kudo or comment, if you prefer, and thank you for reading.  
> Ps. also next update will be a long while, my work project is now in dev phase. (Ｔ▽Ｔ)


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